Electric Storm(67)

“That’s it?” She didn’t relax at his easy acceptance. He kept his distance from others of his kind for a reason. No way would he concede this easily.

He shrugged. “For now.” He didn’t bother to look over his shoulders. “But I’m not the only one who wants answers.”

Taggert kept his thoughts hidden as always, but Jackson held his fury close to his chest, all bottled up and ready to explode. They wanted to protect her. She was so used to being alone, she didn’t know how to deal with them.

Could she really keep them ignorant when staying with her put them at risk? Inhaling deeply, she admitted defeat. “Let’s go downstairs, and I’ll explain what I can.”

She reached for the door handle only to find Taggert already there, opening it for her. His continued subservience disturbed her, reminded her of the labs and the way they conditioned some of the shifters to serve. Though his spirit wasn’t broken, she knew he wasn’t whole either and she didn’t know a damn thing about how to fix him. But she did know one thing that would help. She needed to get that collar off him. He wasn’t a slave any longer.

The lights flickered and turned on when she walked into the room. “Taggert. Sit.” She pointed to a stool by her lab. At his hesitant expression, she amended her statement. “Please.” She opened a drawer, riffled through the tools then slammed it shut when nothing appealed to her. “Let’s see this thing.”

He bowed a little so she could reach. The slave collar left a red ring around his neck, but didn’t break skin. Her power affected it last time. She wasn’t sure how, but she was going to find out. “Let me know if you feel any pain.”

“Raven.” Rylan said her name very softly.

She lifted her chin, daring him to stop her. “I won’t hurt him, but he can’t wear the collar anymore. It puts him in too much danger. They saw him at the club and thought he was there to play. They didn’t see anything but that damn collar.” She refused to look at Jackson and was surprised when she received no objection from him.

She kept her gaze on Rylan, silently asking him to be ready. He gave a subtle nod. If something went wrong, he’d stand between her and Jackson until she could fix it.

Taking a deep breath, she centered herself and reached into the recesses of her body where she stored energy. That thing was still wrapped around the source, nearly swallowing it whole. Her core compensated by growing still larger. She wasn’t reassured, but pushed away her concern in order to do what needed to be done.

She carefully dipped into the pool and gathered a few strands, weaving them together. The power felt incredibly good to touch, eager to be used. She needed to leave enough that if this went ass-backwards, she’d be able to call Taggert back.

He was so alive, so different from the dead she’d accidently called back. If anything happened, she had to be quick in order bring him back whole with his body and soul still intact. A shimmer of doubt rose.

She looked at his young face, saw the harsh past reflected in his eyes, the uncertainty, and a shiny new hope for the future.

And silently cursed. She had to try.

When the power burned along her hands, she gripped the strands, twining them through her fingers despite the way her skin sizzled. She held the collar with care, ensuring none of the metal touched his skin.

Slowly, steadily, she wrapped the strands of power around the silver, iron and gold. The necklace absorbed all of it without change. She did the process twice more when she noticed a difference. “The damn thing is protecting itself. The iron beneath carries a spell.”

She slowly withdrew and let the power settle in the piece and cool. When she lifted her gaze, she saw Taggert’s eyes had turned completely yellow. Though she hadn’t moved, she sensed that he wouldn’t allow her to retreat. He inhaled her scent, and that seemed to be enough to keep him docile. For now.

She didn’t look away from Taggert as she spoke. “I need one of you on each side to grab the collar and pull when I give you the signal.” She hoped the magic hadn’t had time to compensate for the influx of extra energy and would thus be brittle.

When Jackson came to stand beside Taggert, she realized he wasn’t in much better condition, but he seemed to have better control. Rylan slipped on her other side. She gave them a nod then touched the warm band. All the power she dropped in it was seething at being trapped, fighting the magic trying to tame it. Taking a deep breath, she jerked all the energy she could out of it, fast and dirty and with no finesse.

It came so readily to her call that she staggered under the onslaught, fighting to swallow it all down. She had one chance at this. Magic had a hand in creating this piece. If she let go now, the next time that very magic would fight her and do everything it could to wound Taggert.